The Greatest Criminal Mind Of Our Time: an all-encompassing LEX LUTHOR discussion

[Miles To Go]

JL#17 was a great team-up between Lex and Johnz, and we got a revelation that spoilers:

Lex knew and teamed with the Manhunter when they were both children, but his memory was wiped of their experiances together

end of spoilers

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I liked what this story did for both Lex and Lionel as the irredeemablely nasty kid mad scientist with a drunk loser father wasn't as compelling to me as what Rosenbaum & Glover did with them on TV

[Vordan]

Yeah part of the reason I’m not a fan of Johns Secret Origin is that all the villains are jerks even before they become villains. Lex and Corbyn are dicks to Clark even before they become villains so you don’t feel any sympathy for them. I prefer Lex and Corbyn having some decency to them before falling into villainy.

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Yeah part of the reason I’m not a fan of Johns Secret Origin is that all the villains are jerks even before they become villains. Lex and Corbyn are dicks to Clark even before they become villains so you don’t feel any sympathy for them. I prefer Lex and Corbyn having some decency to them before falling into villainy.

Agreed. The best villains generally have something human about them you can latch onto. Even an unknowable god of evil like Darkseid was a somewhat sympathetic guy at one point.

[Frontier]

Agreed. The best villains generally have something human about them you can latch onto. Even an unknowable god of evil like Darkseid was a somewhat sympathetic guy at one point.

I agree with that in part (and even Johns has shown in past works that Lex wasn't always a complete tool, especially when it came to Lena), but I also feel like if there's any character I can buy being a total @#$% his entire life...it's Lex Luthor.

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I agree with that in part (and even Johns has shown in past works that Lex wasn't always a complete tool, especially when it came to Lena), but I also feel like if there's any character I can buy being a total @#$% his entire life...it's Lex Luthor.

I don't think Lex was ever necessarily pleasant to those around him, but I prefer it when there was a gooey center underneath the arrogance, at least in the beginning.

[stargazer01]

I don't think Lex was ever necessarily pleasant to those around him, but I prefer it when there was a gooey center underneath the arrogance, at least in the beginning.

I think the fact Lex is very jealous of Superman is a sign of insecurity. Somehow, some time in his life he lost something, or maybe he never had the sense that he is loved no matter what. I think it works when his father was too hard on him and he felt he could never measure up. Or he developed such anger toward him that Lex killed his own father. BvS alludes to it. I mean, even the Joker had his soft side once upon a time.

That said, Lex is not the kind of villain I want to feel pitty for; he's the kind I want to love to hate.

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That said, Lex is not the kind of villain I want to feel pitty for; he's the kind I want to love to hate.

I pity Young Lex. I love to hate Lex now.

Snyder's retcon allows for both and I like that.

[stargazer01]

I pity Young Lex. I love to hate Lex now.

Snyder's retcon allows for both and I like that.

Actually, I fully agree with you.

[daBronzeBomma]

Here's a question: just how powerful are Luthor's Lexosuits in a non-Superman context?

Take away the kryptonite, put him up against other DC villains (and minimize the P.I.S.), what can Lexosuit Luthor do against

Sinestro
Doctor Polaris
Black Adam
Bizarro
Felix Faust

Does the Lexosuit have any counters to superspeed, magic, or magnetism? Does it even have autoshields?

[stargazer01]

I imagine Lex' armor suits are just as effective as Iron Man's or so.

[Denirac]

I finally read JL 17 and I gotta say I predicted Lionel the minute I saw a Scientist and a Young Kid with Ginger Hair, I'm Glad Snyder has added something to Lionel that ALMOST reminds me of Glover's Lionel and then has his memory wiped to become the Lionel that readers know, I also loved the relationship with J'onn and Lex

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Lex's Power Armor is a sooped-up Iron Man suit, that is also being constantly upgraded.

However, as Deathstroke pointed out, Lex's ego won't allow him to use a helmet.

[Denirac]

Ok so JL !8 is great for Lex,

spoilers:

Lex is under attack from Brainiac as Brainiac tries to take control of him, So Lex takes a Journey into the Past with Brainiac and we get a fully fleshed out Lionel Story where we find out that Lionel wasnt the drunk Lex remembers, Lionel was a great Adventurer who was unravelling these threads with the Totality LONG before Lex was, He was working with Vandal Savage who was actually responsible for what happened to Lionel, Savage Double crossed Him and took everything Lionel had, including his memories, leading the the Abusive Drunken Shell Lionel became. Clearly Tynion and Snyder are big fans of John Glover's Lionel on Smallville because I distinctively saw that influence here

end of spoilers

All around great issue that provides a lot more context to the revelations in the last one

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I really like this change. I hope we get more cool stories of Lionel Luthor, Super-Archeologist, in the future. Lots of meat on that bone.